Freeport Area approves remote learning program to possibly nix snow days

Julia Felton | Friday, February 12, 2021 9:09 a.m.

Courtesy of Freeport Area School District

Freeport Area High School

Snow days may be a thing of the past for Freeport Area School District students.

The district was approved by the state for the Flexible Instructional Day Program, which allows schools to engage in remote learning rather than canceling and rescheduling school days because of factors like hazardous weather, damage to a school building, an epidemic or other circumstances.

Most schools across the country have grown accustomed to some form of remote learning during the covid-19 pandemic. The flexible program allows school districts to continue using remote learning to avoid school cancellations beyond the current health crisis.

“This will allow for continuity of instruction and education with minimal scheduling disruptions,” Superintendent Ian Magness said.

He said the Pennsylvania Department of Education last summer approved Freeport Area School District to use the program for three years. Districts are approved for three-year periods that can be renewed.

The program can be online, offline or a combination of the two, according to the Department of Education. For Freeport students, the program will involve live synchronous remote instruction, Magness said.

Every student in the district already has a school-issued device for remote learning, which the district has relied on periodically throughout the school year depending on covid-19 case levels in its school buildings.

With exceptions during the ongoing pandemic, schools will not be permitted to use the Flexible Instructional Day Program for more than five days per year, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education.